


Shadow's Keeper

by AngelicSentinel



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Bullying, F/F, Hazing, Nudity, Zack and Cloud are both biologically women, chapters not in chronological order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 07:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9373580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelicSentinel/pseuds/AngelicSentinel
Summary: “I’m fascinated by how you managed to hide for so long. Besides,” he leaned forward. His glasses gleamed from the light off the monitor.  “You listed your true place of birth. Once my agent was there, it was the work of literally minutes to find out Zack Fair doesn't exist. Zinnia Fair, however, quite often showed up in conversation. Imagine that.”Zack glared at Lazard. “What do you want from me, man?”“It's not exactly against Shin-Ra company rules for a woman to be accepted into the SOLDIER program. It's just... discouraged. Thoroughly. To the point of candidates disappearing in the still of the night or being redirected to moreahem, appropriate sections of the company.”"So you're saying you're going to what, disappear me, Director Lazard?” Zack said, arms crossed.“Not at all, Miss Fair." Zack scowled at the appellation. "As a matter of fact, I've never seen a more promising candidate. Walk with me,” Lazard said, standing and gesturing towards the door.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _"...What is the purpose if you feel so incomplete / What is the reason if it beats you to your knees / What do you keep?"_
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> brmc, [Shadow's Keeper](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubr9s9PCEsI)

Zack whistled, heading from the mess to the VR rooms, when a slight noise had her turning down a dim hallway. It sounded like a whimper.

The fluorescent lights flickered, reflecting off the dull linoleum of the floor. It was really kind of creepy. Damn. Sometimes she hated walking through Shin-Ra at night, Angeal's warnings a constant presence in the back of her mind. 

Not to mention how often things escaped from the Science Department.

She crept down the hall, one hand on her blade.

It was coming from a janitorial closet that definitely looked like it had seen better days. The inside of it was trashed, someone had broken a mouldy, rusty mop in half, cleaning fluid was everywhere—and she could smell bleach and the faint tang of ammonia, which was really not good. It was toxic but not exactly deadly in a well-ventilated area, but that shit hurt and made it hard to breathe. She kicked it out of the closest and into the middle of the hallway. Let Shin-Ra deal with the mess. Fuck knows the janitors didn't do their jobs.

Another whimper had her reassessing the pile of rags in the corner. She crouched down and pulled a few dirty rags away—one with a suspicious brown stain she really, really hoped was rust because otherwise that was just gross—and found a tuft of yellow. She pulled on it and it made a noise like a human in pain.

Shit! She pulled a few more away, and it was definitely a person. Judging by the uniform, It was a SOLDIER potential. She pulled the rest of the cleaning stuff off him, and damn, he was soaked in a mixture of chemicals, curled up with his knees to his chest.

“Whoa, what’s wrong, man? You okay?”

He didn’t say anything, just curled up tighter. Dumbass, Zack thought to herself. Of course he’s not okay. He’s been hazed and shoved in a closet.

“I promise dude, I’m not going to hurt you.” she reached out, her hand outstretched. “Don’t cry.”

The little guy turned and looked at her, and holy hell his eyes were very blue. She felt her heart flutter a little bit. Also he had a fine shiner covering his left eye, a busted lip, and crusty blood trailing down from his nose. Even so, he was attractive. Very attractive. Like Sephiroth or Genesis levels of hotness. He looked hella short, though, and couldn’t be a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet. His arms were literally noodles, though. There was a bit of tone, but for most part they were rail thin. He was a stick.

The blond rubbed at his red-rimmed eyes. “I’m not crying.”

Zack crossed her arms. “Suuure you’re not.”

“Just leave me alone,” he said, huddling deeper into that pile of rags.

“Man, I remember those days. Shin-Ra’s pretty shitty about the hazing.” Zack let out a sigh. “It gets better once you’re in SOLDIER, though. It did for me.”

The blond popped up. “You’re a SOLDIER?” he asked, his tone filled with awe, his whole demeanour changing.

Zack rubbed the back of her neck. “Uh, yeah? Anyway, anything I can do to help?”

The blond scowled. “No.”

Hmm. Guy wasn’t very talkative. Zack kicked some leaking bottles away and sat down next to him. “So why did they go after you, huh?” She paused for a moment, but he didn’t answer. So she continued. “Let me guess; you’re the slowest and the weakest, easy to rile up, and absolutely horrible at PT.”

If anything, the scowl grew deeper.

Zack put her hands up. “Hey man, just saying. That was me when I started. You’re from the new class, right?” He nodded. “Thought so. Can’t tell you how many fights it took before they started leaving me alone. I’m telling you, bullies got a sense for weakness, but hey: if I can make SOLDIER, you can, too.”

“…You really think so?” The blond asked. Zack put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He tensed and remained that way until she pulled away.

“Hell yeah! I got faith in you.” She held out her hand. “Zack Fair, Second Class. Nice to meetcha!”

He gave a small quirk of his lip. “Cloud Strife.”

Zack nearly choked trying to hold back her laugh.

Cloud pouted, and it was dangerously cute. “Something wrong with my name?” He said. Scrappy kid.

“Not at all!” she said. Then she muttered, “So much better than Zinnia.”

“Zinnia?” The blond—Cloud asked.

Damn, he had good ears. “My, uh, friend back home,” Zack said. Nope, lie, but she really didn’t want to go into the intricacies of running away from home, changing her identity and name by forging new documents good enough to fool the company. Especially with a stranger she wasn’t sure she could trust. She cursed. She couldn’t afford to be so careless. Angeal had lectured her time and time again about what the Science Department would do if they found out he was a she, especially since they’d lied and said women couldn’t be viable SOLDIERs. She was proof that was wrong. “So where are you from, then?” She said, hopefully distracting him.

“Nibelheim.”

She couldn’t help it. “That sounds so backwater!”

“Oh yeah?” Cloud asked, “What about you?”

“Gongaga,” Zack found herself being honest again. Dangerous, according to Lazard, but she didn't really want to lie more than she had to. 

“And you were talking about Nibelheim!” Cloud said, laughing. “That sounds even worse!” Zack felt heat rise to her face. He had a very pretty laugh. “Let me guess: mako reactor?”

“And nothing else!” they chorused.

“Got it in one!” Zack said. Then her PHS went off. She flipped it open. It was a message from Angeal, wondering where she was. “Hey, Cloud?”

“Yes, sir?” Cloud asked.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and ruffled his hair. “Don’t call me sir. It’s Zack.” She gave him a wink. She watched, fascinated as his cheeks lit up with the faintest flush. Maybe he was gay. That wouldn’t help him with the bullies either. It was like they could sniff out any difference from the norm. “I don’t want to leave, but Angeal is being really, really insistent about my training. He hates me being late.”

“First Class Angeal?” Cloud said weakly.

“What? Oh yeah. I’m supposed to train with him today, but then I wandered away and found a passing little Cloud!” She pounced on him and gave him a noogie.

“Hey!” Cloud complained, trying to push her away, but he couldn’t; she was too strong.

“It looked like it was about to rain, so I had to cheer it up!”

“Zaaack,” Cloud said whining, stretching out her name like he’d been doing it for years.

Zack pulled away, laughing. “C'mon, buddy. Let me help you up,” she said, standing up, holding out her hand. Cloud took it, and she pulled him to his feet in one smooth movement. “Ah, you really are short!” she said. It was true. She had at least a foot on him. At six two she was tall for her sex—which helped the deception, honestly—but this was ridiculous. He only came up to her chest. She could bench press the kid.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” he said, but she could hear the anger.

“Sorry man, didn’t mean anything by it. Guess I’ll see you around, huh?” She turned to leave, but paused for a second. “You know what? I’m still learning myself, but I could take you on as a student,” she said slowly.

“You’re kidding,” Cloud said.

“Nah, man. Like I said, I sucked before Angeal took me on. Seriously, I was awful. The man’s an absolute beast when it comes to training, but he knows what he’s doing. You interested?”

Cloud looked conflicted, so she added, “Who knows, might help you get a leg up on those assholes.” She patted him on the head. “You think about it.”

  
-

 

Cloud curled around herself as another kick landed on her back, somewhere in the vicinity of her kidneys.

Zack had been true to his word, training her in the sword and hand-to-hand. It had only been three months, but she already had improved by leaps and bounds.

Someone stomped on her side; she felt her ribs give and her body explode into pain.

Tifa was right. Joining SOLDIER had been the stupidest idea ever. Everyone knew they didn’t take women for some reason that was never explained, even though there were female Turks. That’s why she’d bought a binder and snuck in. Everyone thought she was an underage boy. Her birth certificate didn’t list a father or a sex, and it was easy enough to get hold of a typewriter and change that.

Everyone in her squad picked on her. She could deal with bruises and sprains. It was bearable until Salcedo and Walker had caught her coming back from one of Zack’s training sessions.

They’d surrounded her with about seven other goons. She’d improved, taking Walker down in their CQC class thanks to Zack’s instructions about using speed and stamina over strength, letting the enemy exhaust themselves before going in for the kill. She could have probably taken two or three, but seven? No way in hell. Training only did so much when you were tiny.

He was here for revenge for humiliating him in class. Half these guys weren’t even in their platoon, she noted.

Her fireteam leader, Vegas, was there, but he hadn’t joined in, and his eyes kept flickering towards her and the NCO barracks, conflicted.

Whatever. If he actually cared he would have been long gone getting help. Oh, Cloud couldn’t breathe.

“What’s going on here?” Cloud heard a voice say, husky and deep. That voice always sent tingles through her, even now with the pain.

“S-second Class Fair,” Walker said, snapping to attention and giving him a salute. The other boys—because like hell she was calling them men—crowded around her, blocking her from Zack’s view.

“I believe I asked you a question, soldier,” Zack said, his voice ice. Cloud had never heard him sound so cold.

While Walker was stammering an excuse, Salcedo accidentally tread on her with his foot. Cloud couldn’t help but let out a pained sound.

Immediately everyone stopped talking. Only the hum of the lights could be heard over the all-encompassing silence.

“ _Move_ ,” Zack commanded, and they parted, leaving Cloud visible to his eyes. He looked over her, his eyes softening, studying her with an intense focus that would have made Cloud blush if not for the pain. He knelt down, checking her for serious injuries, thankfully staying away from her chest, satisfied until he reached her ribs and she couldn’t help but gasp.

“I’m taking him to the infirmary,” Zack said. “All of you are to go to your racks and remain there for disciplinary action.”

“Why, so you can go fuck him again?” Walker muttered. “Everyone knows that’s what you’re doing.” 

Zack’s eyes could flay skin from bone. He stood up straight to his full height, towering over them. “Jonathan Walker, you are hereby dishonourably discharged for gross disrespect of a senior officer and assault and battery of a fellow squad member. You have until oh one hundred hours to pack your bags and leave the premises.”

Not that there were actually any fraternization regs, so long as it didn't affect job performance. It was ostensibly a power company, not an army, SOLDIER their prime security force. Shin-Ra didn't care so long as you showed up and did your job. Corrupt from top down. Nepotism and that kind of favoritism was rampant and even encouraged under certain circumstances. However, they did have rules, and respect for higher officers was a big one. A SOLDIER you couldn't trust at home was a SOLDIER you couldn't trust in the field. 

The boy sputtered, red-faced. “You can’t do that! There has to be a hearing!”

“I have a direct line to Director Lazard and I am the direct subordinate of First Class Angeal Hewley. You’ll find I can, especially if you’re dumb enough to be caught on film.” He fingered his blade and jerked his head at the camera. Everyone turned to look, and sure enough, one was fixed right on them. ”SOLDIERs work in groups. They have to be leaders. You’re supposed to prop up the weakest member, not beat them down. Don’t make me enforce it myself. You wouldn’t be the first grunt to disappear.”

Walker paled and then walked away as fast as he could without running.

Zack’s eyes searched the room. None of the other boys would meet his eyes. “That goes for the rest of you. If I find any more infractions or even hear the slightest whisper of any of you disregarding my orders, the same goes for you.”

They stood frozen by his glare.

“Why are you lot still standing here? Leave, now!”

“Yes, sir, Second Class Fair, sir!” they chorused and left as a group.

That done, Zack knelt by Cloud’s side. “I’ll just call the infirmary and have them bring a stretcher—”

“No!” Cloud forced herself to say, the edge of panic tearing at her heart.

“Cloud, your ribs are probably broken. I can’t move you by myself without hurting you further.”

She grabbed at his arm, her grip weak. “Please, Zack, I can’t go. Not there.”

“Why not?” Zack asked, his face worried, his brow furrowed with confusion. “Are you scared of doctors?”

“Please, I just can’t!” she begged.

“Cloud, you have to have medical attention. Unless you can tell me why—”

“I will!” she blurted out. “I’ll tell you. Just don’t make me go.”

Zack let out a sigh. “Don’t let me regret this. You still need to be patched up. I don’t have anything more than training in field medicine and triage, hope you’re not bleeding internally.”

He knelt back down and tucked her under his arms, picking her up so easily in a bridal carry, holding her against his chest, being extremely careful. Cloud was almost too in pain to appreciate it, but his neck was warm against the side of her face, and she could feel herself blush. She’d never been this close to anyone, ever. Not even when she'd exchanged curious kisses with Tifa. She looped her arms around him to keep herself steady. He moved to the elevator, pressing a number for a high floor.

“Where are you taking me?” she mumbled against his throat.

“My flat,” he said. “It’s the one place I can think of that’s private. I’ll tell you more when we get there.”

Cloud tried not to let the nervousness curdle her stomach. "You're just proving them right," she said.

"I don't give a fuck. That kind of arrogant assholery just pisses me off. Still wouldn't give them any right to hurt you. You're a comrade."

It wasn’t too much longer and they were there. Zack opened the door one-handed, bypassing the ratty sofa to set her down on his bed, dumping his gear in the corner. He fluffed his pillows and propped her up against them, easing her down.

He crossed his arms. “Now what’s so goddamn important you can’t go to the infirmary? I’ve disabled the cameras and I regularly sweep for bugs, so we should be safe.”

Cloud gulped and tried to lift her arms. She let out a cry of pain. “It’s easier to show you,” she gasped. “Take off my shirt,” she said, panting from the pain.

Zack was staring at her, an expression she couldn’t name on his face. “All right,” he peeled her shirt off ever so gently, leaving her in her binder.

Cloud could tell when the knowledge hit him. She didn’t have to explain it to him. He traced the edges of it. His hands were calloused and warm. “So that’s why,” he murmured.

“Are you going to kick me out?” she asked almost desperately. It wasn’t even about Sephiroth, not anymore. Zack was the only one who had ever taken a look at her and told her she could be something other than some Nibelheim housewife. And that life was okay for some people, but not for her. She’d always wanted to travel, to go places, and SOLDIER was one of the few places you could do that.

“No, but I honestly don’t know how you lasted this long all by yourself.” He tapped her binder. “You’re going to have to remove this, you know. I need to bind your ribs.”

Cloud turned red so fast it made her dizzy. “But you—I can't—”

“Oh, that’s right!” Zack said as if coming to a realisation. “Don’t tell anyone, okay? It’ll be our secret!” He reached for his own shirt to pull it off.

Cloud saw red. “If you think you can molest me just because you saved me—” She had a crush on him, yeah, but it didn’t give him the right to just assume she’d go right along with it!

“Damn, Cloudy, I guess that did sound pretty creepy. Let me finish,” he said, and he tugged his own shirt off, leaving him in a binder as well. “Does that make it better?”

“You’re, you're—” Now that she was looking, Zack had an athletic, square build with broad shoulders, but his hips did round a little, though it was hard to tell in SOLDIER gear.

“Yup. I did it to join SOLDIER, just like you.”

“But you’re so tall!”

“Yeah yeah, I know I’m a tall freak. At least that’s what everyone always told me. Comes in handy for this, though.”

“Take it off!” Cloud said suddenly, awash with disbelief. Zack had to be joking. “You can’t be!”

“Geez, Cloud, if you wanted to see my tits all you had to do was ask,” Zack said, rolling his eyes. But he took his binder off, leaving his chest bare, showing off a pair of breasts with dusky pink nipples. “Happy now?”

Cloud stared. Zack was definitely female.

“Entranced and totally speechless, huh?” He—no, she—ran her hand through her hair. “Not to brag, but yeah. I get that a lot.” She crossed her arms, which emphasized her chest. Cloud couldn’t look away. “Or I used to. You going to let me wrap your ribs now?”

“You—”

“Yeah, me. Come on, Spiky. Let me at your ribs, buddy. You’ll be a mess if they heal wrong.”

And nothing had changed. At all. Zack had been doing this for years. This was the real Zack. “How?” she said, gesturing for her to take her binder off. She did, clinical and professional and began to wrap her torso in bandages.

“I was just as clueless as you in the beginning. Director Lazard caught me out, saved me from the Science Department, and Angeal took me in. He gives me my mako injections; he learned from a Professor Gast or somebody. What were you planning on doing if you did make SOLDIER?” Zack asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” Cloud admitted. “I haven’t gotten that far. I’m making this up as I go.” She grunted as Zack wrapped another layer around her ribs, prodding them to make sure they were in place before heading to the footlocker at the foot of her bed and grabbing a bracer. She cast a cure on her, and Cloud sighed as the warmth of the materia settled around her bones.

“You’ll still be out of commission for a week or two. I’ll get Angeal to forge the paperwork.” Cloud shifted uncomfortably. Zack shot her a look. “He’ll have to know anyway to give you injections.”

"You're going to let me stay?" And a sharp burst of shame tore through her as her voice faltered.

"Well, duh. Don't let Angeal intimidate you. He's a big softie."

“I don’t even know why I’m still here,” Cloud muttered. 

“Cloud, your only problem is you’re not trained. You definitely have the determination and attitude. I’ve seen how much you’ve improved, remember? Don’t worry about your size. Strength won’t be a problem later; mako is a great equalizer. There’s a reason Sephiroth fights better than Angeal, even though Angeal is like, as big as a Zolom.” Zack jerked her finger at herself. “Keep training with me, and you’ll be there in no time,” she said with a bright grin.

Cloud smiled faintly back. “Thanks, Zack.”

“No problem! Now you can sleep here, I’ll get a blanket and stretch out on the couch.”

“No!” Cloud said. Zack looked at her. “Well, it’s a full, so there’s definitely room for two,” she said. And oh, she should have kept quiet. That was more than a little awkward. Cloud had shared an onsen with Tifa, but it didn’t have the context that sharing the same bed with a superior officer you had a crush on did.

Even with the new information, Cloud Strife was still desperately attracted to one Zack Fair.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, man,” Zack said, rubbing the back of her neck. She reach over to the small armoire and grabbed a grey shirt that had the words Shin-Ra emblazoned across it. “Here, to sleep in.”

With Zack’s help, Cloud pulled it on. It pooled at her waist; it probably would reach to mid-thigh on her, Zack was so tall. Zack also helped her pull off her boots.

“Thanks. I don’t mind, you know. Really. That sofa looked kinda cramped.”

“It is,” Zack said with a grimace. She shucked off the rest of her clothes, leaving her in boxers, and pulled on a tank. She climbed in the bed, and laid down, stiff as a board. “Ugh, this is awkward,” she said as she shifted.

She turned and laid on her side. “That took balls, you know, telling me,” Cloud laughed. Zack did, too. “Metaphoric ones, dick.”

“Someone’s obsessed with the male body,” Cloud observed.

“Whatever you say, you ass,” Cloud started to say something, but Zack put her finger over her lips. “I mean it though. Telling me your secret took courage. I could have done anything with it.” Cloud’s lips tingled.

“You wouldn’t have,” Cloud murmured. “You’ve always looked out for me ever since we met.”

“Maybe.” Zack sighed. “You reminded me of myself. Pretty cool it was in more ways than one. Never thought I’d ever find someone as crazy as me. Seriously. Who joins the military like this? Risking death and destruction not just from the enemy, but from our own side?”

“That’s just how they make us country folk I guess,” Cloud said, voice still low, exaggerating her accent. 

“Yeah, guess so. Must be something in the water.” Zack reached out and linked their hands together.

“This way we don’t have to worry about acting lady-like,” Cloud said. “It’s almost a fair trade.”

“Yeah. What does that mean, anyway? Like, my mother is a perfect lady. She knits, bakes, and has proper manners, but she also taught me how to throw a punch and build a pipe bomb. That was a fun night. We shot fireworks at each other and blew up this stump that looked like tonberry.”

“Mine taught me how to shoot and ride a motorcycle and how to maintain an engine. Also how to hunt and skin a nibel wolf and preserve the fur and survive in subzero temperatures. And how to apply perfectly winged eyeliner.”

“Nice!” Zack whistled, moving closer so they were touching. 

Cloud couldn’t help it. She rolled over until she was snuggled in Zack’s chest, breast making for a nice pillow. It was a lot more comfortable than trying to maintain distance.

“I mean, I can hang sheetrock and know how rewire a room. I’m the fourth best in the company at using swords after the Firsts. Who says swordplay isn’t lady-like?” Zack wrapped her arm around Cloud. It was kinda nice. “Being badass and looking good doing it,” Zack said. “That should be the definition.”

“I’m sure you’d look good doing anything,” Cloud said without thinking.

Zack wrapped her other arm around Cloud’s waist and pulled her closer. “Really now?” she asked, and there was a note in her voice that warmed Cloud’s blood and made her toes want to curl.

Cloud licked her lips. Zack’s eyes flickered downwards. “Yeah,” she said, voice hoarse.

Suddenly, there was no space between them and they were breathing the same air. Cloud leaned up just a bit, pressing their lips together. Zack’s lips were chapped, but she ran her tongue along her lips anyway. Zack responded eagerly, running her tongue along her teeth, mapping the ridges of her mouth. Zack smiled against her lips, but pulled away soon after, both of them breathless. "Too soon?" she breathed.

"Not really," Cloud said, voice barely a whisper. She winced as her movement sent pain through her ribs.

Zack shifted, tucking Cloud’s head underneath her chin. “Goodnight, Cloudy.”

Cloud snuggled deeper into her warmth. feeling perfectly safe. “Night, Zack.”


End file.
